1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automotive vehicle inflatable cushion restraint that momentarily and temporarily restrains an occupant during the critical instant of a collision impact. More particularly, the invention relates to a low mount, easily assembled, dual air bag restraint module for the passenger side of an automobile.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Occupant restraint systems for automotive vehicles, including low-mount dual air bag modules, have been proposed in the prior art. One such arrangement, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,610,657, granted on Oct. 5, 1971, uses two bags that are folded within a housing that is open at one end. One of the bags is for restraining the knee of the passenger to prevent forward sliding in the event of a crash. The other bag is for restraining the passenger's torso. The knee bag is located within the torso bag and both are attached directly by a manifold to an inflator. The knee bag is arranged to be inflated first. Then the torso bag is inflated to prevent forward rotation of the passenger from the hips.
There are practical problems with such prior art air bag modules. Such problems include:
(1) the need for complex hardware for attaching the air bags to the inflator; PA1 (2) there is a tendency for the inflating gas to burn the torso bag; PA1 (3) the necessity for protective components for the prevention of such burning; PA1 (4) the difficulty in proportioning the inflating gases to the two bags.
Other prior U.S. patents that disclose dual bag constructions that are also subject to one or more of the foregoing problems or that are otherwise undesirably expensive to make and difficult to assemble are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,761,111, 3,784,225, 4,076,277, and 3,767,225.